Knowsley MP reacts in Parliament to violent anti-migrant demonstration

Following five more anti-migrant demonstrations and two arrests in Rotherham over the weekend, Knowsley MP Sir George Howarth asks an Urgent Question of the Government. Knowsley was where the demonstration outside The Suites hotel occurred on 10 Feb where a police van was set alight and 15 people arrested.

The question comes as new HOPE not hate research reveals that far-right anti-migrant activity around asylum accommodation had risen 102% in 2022 from the previous year with 253 separate incidents.

Nick Lowles, CEO of HOPE not hate said:

“The huge increase in far-right anti-migrant activity doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It’s incumbent on the Government to end their inflammatory use of language that feeds and enables the far-right, put safeguards around hotels in place and look again at their policies that have led to this dangerous situation in the first place.”

HOPE not hate's key asks of the Government are:

End the use of inflammatory language by the Government and the media which feeds and enables the far right.
Make sure the Home Office puts the right safeguards in place for those in unsafe and unsuitable accommodation. At the moment local authorities and police are not fully informed and not adequately supported to address issues before they spill over.
Put together a long-term plan to provide suitable community-based accommodation for people seeking asylum, and to take action to address the backlogs that trap people in unsuitable accommodation where they become targets for hate.

Notes to editors:

“Migrant-hunters” and the far-right:

This weekend, HOPE not hate released research showing that far-right activity around asylum accommodation had risen 102% in 2022 from the previous year with 253 separate incidents.
The weekend of the 18th February saw five anti-migrant protests, either led or supported by far right groups, with banners such as ‘Stop White Genocide' and ‘End the Invasion, Stop Immigration' from the extreme fascist groupPatriotic Alternativeprominent.
In Rotherham, two people were arrested, one of whom was detained on suspicion of obstructing a public highway and was in police custody.
This followed the violent scenes in Kirkby, Merseyside on the 10th February where 15 people were arrested and 3 people were injured as a police van was set on fire and fireworks were lit. Patriotic Alternative had leafletted in the area andBritain First, the anti-Muslim political party, also filmed outside the hotel, using the footage to rile up its supporters.
In October 2022, we saw where this activism can lead.Andrew Leak, an individual who consumed and interacted with content from far-right and anti-migrant activists, threw multiple petrol bombs at a migrant processing centre in Dover.

Migrant hunters: Who are they and what threat do they pose?

Amanda Smith (aka Yorkshire Rose) visited migrant accommodation 124 times in 2022, a 143% increase on 2021.Smith, from Castleford, is by far the most prolific hotel harasser of 2022. She poses as a concerned local journalist to try to get migrants to talk to her. Her visits at times end in her screaming "traitor" and verbally abusing staff and security. She has nearly 11,000 subscribers on YouTube with 1.8 million views. She has called asylum seekers "filthy animals" and was arrested in January 2021 for causing alarm and distress and banned from North Yorkshire as part of their bail conditions. She has also harassed staff at COVID-19 test centres, claiming COVID-19 is fake. On her accounts she has posted 5G and New World Order conspiracy theories and content from the fascist group Patriotic Alternative.
Patriotic Alternative made 14 visits in 2022.They dropped banners saying "White girls are not Fair Game" in front of hotels and leafleting to stir up hate with messages such as "we're full".
Britain First and Paul Golding have carried out 81 visits, a 53% increase on 2021.They also leafletted areas near migrant accommodation, most notably in Linton-on-Ouse where they ran a campaign designed to play on local concerns. Replicating their previous tactic of ‘mosque invasions' they filmed outside hotels and even entered the accommodation on numerous occasions. Britain First messaging focused on painting asylum-seekers as potential terrorists or sexual predators. The group uses Islamophobic narratives about a "Muslim takeover of Europe" and regularly refers to the "Great Replacement" - a white nationalist conspiracy theory that states the ethnic white population is being demographically and culturally replaced with non-white and specifically Arab and sub-Saharan Muslim populations through mass migration and demographic changes.
Far-right ‘journalists' Voice of Wales have visited 13 sites in Wales in 2022 creating content.They were permanently banned from YouTube and now use fringe social media platforms to spread their videos, such as Gettr.
Steve Laws is one of the most prominent anti-migrant figures who films arriving boats in Dover.He uses the language of "invaders", "swarm" and the "Great Replacement" conspiracy theory. He is a former member of For Britain, the now defunct far-right party.
Chris Johnson posts near-daily videos of migrants rescued by the RNLI on his Facebook page.In September 2022, he posted, "The first thing Liz Truss should do is build more prisons because the levels of violence and sexual assaults in the country is unbelievable. Bang them all up. We have a right to feel safe."

Responses from the refugee and asylum sector

Following events in Kirby,the Together with Refugees coalitionbrought together 180 organisations calling on party leaders to: "...take a clear stand and condemn any further violence against those who come here to find safety, and set out the action they will take to prevent it.". Signatories include at least 28 Merseyside organisations such as Share Knowsley, Asylum Link Merseyside, Liverpool Trades Union Council and Liverpool City of Sanctuary, alongside Save the Children, Chartered Institute of Housing, Ben and Jerry's, Refugee Council and many others.
Sabir Zazai, Chair of Together With Refugees, CEO of Scottish Refugee Council and himself a former refugee, said: "These are vulnerable people who have already suffered and struggled to find safety. They need our compassion not hatred. This isn't about party politics, it's about basic human decency. The very least all political leaders could do is to condemn the attack on people seeking sanctuary in our communities. Leaders of all political parties must call for the ending of these hostile policies and hateful language that only fuels division and anger. This does not represent the people of Britain. This is not who we are. We all have a shared duty to nurture our cohesion and strengthen what binds us together as communities in these challenging times."
On the 18th February,the Refugee Councilhighlighted challenges with asylum hotels statingthat living in hotels is mentally and emotionally exhausting for people seeking asylum. They went on to note the majority of refugees have welfare, physical and mental health needs that are often more complex than those of the general UK population and that living in hotels exacerbates these needs. In addition to the human impact, the use of hotels is costing a shocking £7 million a day and the growing backlog of asylum decision-making forces people to stay on asylum support and in unsuitable hotels for months and years at a time. The Refugee Council conclude there would be no need for hotels if government failure and mismanagement had not led to people waiting on average nearly 18 months for an asylum decision.

Notes to editors:

HOPE not hate is the UK's leading anti-fascist campaign group which monitors and tackles the far-right.

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hopenothate.org.uk|@hopenothate|media@hopenothate.org.uk|0207 952 1183

HOPE not hate uses research, education and public engagement to challenge mistrust and racism, and helps to build communities that are inclusive, celebrate shared identities and are resilient to hate.

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